Philippine-born, Florida-based photographer Dennis Ramos has a penchant for atmospheric black and white photography. We are particularly fond of his architectural work, which casts a haunting glow over his subjects. Seen through Ramos’s lens, the world seems to stand still, and his skilled eye has a way of really accentuating the beauty of architectural lines by way of light, shadow and reflection. Really beautiful work.

Few athletes are as globally recognizable as icon David Beckham. Even here in the U.S. where soccer is not nearly the sports juggernaught that it is just about everywhere else on the planet, Beckham is a mainstay in the fabric of our vast celebrity culture. So it was fitting that the Bleacher Report recently commissioned artists to create unique illustrations of the soccer superstar to mark his 40th birthday. We really love the diversity of styles here. We won’t mention our favorites, but it’s safe to say that they are all pretty fantastic in their own way. These assorted artists, whose backgrounds and influences are as distinct as their artistic styles, include Steve Welsh (UK); Alexis Marcou (New York City), previous post here; Sebastián Domenech (Buenos Aires); Dave Merrell (UK), previous post here; Brandon Spahn (Bloomington, Indiana); Bram Vanhaeren (Belgium); Nikkolas Smith (Los Angeles); Melvin Rodas (Philippines); Rory Martin (San Francisco); Gabriel De Los Rios (New York City); James White (Nova Scotia).

Manila-based art director/illustrator Patrick Cabral (also known as Dark Gravity) has a very eclectic portfolio. From illustration, to app design, to motion graphics, Cabral brings his a-game to each new project. As strong as all of his work is, we are particularly taken with Cabral’s typography work. It’s sort of refreshing to appreciate hand lettering in this increasingly digital age. And Cabral’s ornate work, complete with flourishes, swashes and filigree is among some of the best we’ve seen. Oh, and Happy New Year!

There’s an old adage that states “less is more.” And that maxim certainly holds true for this minimalist icon set developed for Schick. There was a notion in the Philippines that Schick was a female brand because of their popular line of lady razors, so the Manila branch of marketing and advertising giant J. Walter Thompson developed this slick set of graphic posters to combat that misperception. These fantastically bold graphics, by the team at JWT Manila, feature recognizable historical and pop culture figures with distinct facial hair (Mr. T from The A-Team, V from V for Vendetta, Salvador Dali, Groucho Marx and Charlie Chaplin) that one can achieve using Schick razors. We love how the product is seamlessly integrated into the designs. There’s certainly market research and number crunching that goes into how and where to market with visuals like these, but we don’t see why a campaign like this wouldn’t be effective here in the US. There seems to be a sort of facial hair renaissance happening right now, and aggressively bold visuals like these would be hard to miss.